A.G.M. &MEMBERSHIP2nd AGM, Rathmell Lecture Theatre E10, University of Wales Newport, Caerleon Campus

2.30 pm Saturday 23rd October. Special Guest Speaker. Membership renewals are now due, but reports have reached the committee of lost memberships, lost contact and members notbeing notified of events in good time. The committee are not aware of any major inconveniences, but feel free to tell us. Thecommittee apologises, but we are a volunteer organisation - any poor performance is inexcusable, but an email or contact with acommittee member detailing problems will be promptly investigated - secretary@thenewportship.com.

Adult £5 Family £8 Institutional £10 International $20as we move on it is vitally important we maintain our support and you, our members have a chance to express your views onthe future of the Ship. If any member feels they wish to support our activities more actively feel free to contact the committeemembers, or become one yourself. Snakehips Rutherford, our Chairman, was a silf like figure with a full head of hair when hestarted - look what it has done for him. Special Guest editor Charlie Ferris was a prosperous Newport businessman before hediscovered the Friends – look what it has done for him.

S.O.S.the Newsletter of the

Friends of the Newport Ship

It gives me great pleasure to writea foreword to this newsletterfrom the “Save Our Ship”

CampaignThe discovery of the remains of theship was something very exciting forNewport people. For two centuries,we had thought of ourselves as a newtown on the map of Wales. Suddenlywe realised that we also had a mucholder history. The discovery hasopened up new fields in our history.After all, this ship is older than the“Mary Rose” in Portsmouth or the“Vasa” in Stockholm.We are also grateful to the society forputting pressure on the council tosave the ship for future generationsand for mobilising the outpouring ofinterest and of pride in the city.We should all support them in anyway we can.

John HughesChairman Organising Committee

Newport National Eisteddfod 2004

Contents• Friends receive Grant

• Another ship from Newport.

• Past Adventures

• Future Events

• Archery on the Newport Ship.

• A Visit to the Bremen Cog

• Creating an Archive

• Archaeologist’s view of the ship.

• Memories of the Vigil

• Medieval Newport

• A Merchant on the Newport Ship

• Merchants’ Marks – 2004

• Bookies Back The Ship

• Medieval Ship Film & Exhibition

No. 5 £1.50Summer 2004 Free to MembersMae’n bleser mawr gennyf

ysgrifennu rhagair i’rwybodaeth yma

am y gymdeithas “Save Our Ship” yngNghasnewydd.Yr oedd y darganfyddiad o adfeilion yllong yn rhywbeth cyffrous iawn yn yddinas. Wedi’r cwbl, dyna ni wedimeddwl am ddwy ganrif amGasnewydd fel dref newydd ar fapGymru ond yn sydyn deallodd yboblogaeth leol bod hen hanes gyda ni.Mae’r darganfyddiad wedi agormeysydd newydd yn ein hanes. Wrthgwrs mae’r llong yn henach na’r“Mary Rose” yn Portsmouth a’r“Vasa” yn Stockholm.Yr ydym yn ddyledus hefyd i’rgymdeithas am bwysleisio ar y Cyngori achub gweddillion y llong igenhedloedd y dyfodol ac am drefnu ytywalltiad o ddiddordeb ac o falchteryn y ddinas.Felly cefnogwch y gymdeithas honunrhywfordd y gellwch

John HughesCadeirydd Pwyllgor Gwaith

Eisteddfod Casnewydd 2004

THE BOOKIESBACK THE SHIP (or any more out there)

Back at the start of thecampaign, William Hill gavethe Friends of the Newport

Ship a charity bet that another shipwould be discovered before the firstof January 2008. To qualify, the shipmust be pre 1800, over 30 feet inlength, and of a seagoing capacity.She must be found on the Welsh sideof the river Severn between Cardiffand Chepstow. If we lose the bet,William Hill will donate the £250stake that they put up to the Noah’sArk appeal to establish a children’shospital in Wales, however, if we aresuccessful, and a new ship isdiscovered, William Hill, (havinggiven us generous odds of 2:1) willdonate £500 to the Noah’s ArkAppeal.

KEEP LOOKING EVERYBODY !

New Address for Friends of the ShipPlease send all subscription renewals, donations and

correspondence to our new address.

The Friends of the Newport Shipc/o FWD Law Clifton Chambers12 Clifton RoadSt. WoolosNewportNP20 4EW

The Friends of Newport Ship lead the parade to celebrate the National Eisteddfod coming to Newport

MEDIEVAL SHIP EXHIBITION– RIVERFRONT THEATRE

- By Mike Lewis

When the Riverfront Theatre opens inOctober public will have access tothe subterranean gallery designed

to house the ship once it has been conserved.The project to conserve the ship is going totake a considerable time so in the meantimethe exhibition space will be used to interpretthe ship find using the information we havefound so far. The first thing that will strike visitors is thedepth of the gallery underground. The floorof the gallery is at the same level at which theship was abandoned and subsequently found.The space is also just a few metres from theexcavation site. It is intended to try and convey a sense of hallowed space through theexhibition.The exhibition will use the latest evidence to interpret the ship find, but of course it willnot be possible to make any authoritative statements about the ships origins. Rather theexhibition will present the evidence we have and let visitors make their own mind up. A number of the objects recovered during the excavation will be displayed and willincluded the medieval shoe, cannon balls, coins, pottery and the archer’s wrist guard. It will not be possible to display some of the wooden objects because they have toundergo a long conservation treatment, but the intention is to display everything as itbecomes available.Central to the exhibition will be an audiovisual presentation that will tell the story of the

ship’s discovery. A number of the Friends of the NewportShip will feature in the presentation which will focus onthe importance of the popular campaign in getting the shipexcavated. The presentation will end with a virtual fullsize rendering of the ship. The exhibition will open approximately two years afterthe ship excavation was completed, and will be the first instep in interpreting the find in a traditional exhibitionformat . However we appreciate just how little we know,and over the life of the ship project, the informationavailable will increase. We want to ensure from theoutset, that this exhibition will be able to be reconfiguredto ensure that new information is interpreted as it becomesavailable. The opening of this exhibition will coincide with the firststeps of the Ship Project being taken as recording workbegins in earnest in the autumn. With these twoendeavours we will start to see the realisation of a projectthat is set to be increasingly recognised as aninternationally important endeavour. Members of theoriginal SOS campaign and the Friends of the NewportShip were invited to participate by the City Council and

have been interviewed in a variety of locations, including the Conservation Centre, theFerris Bistro and St. Woolos. Fame at last?

“AWARDS FOR ALL WALES”GRANT FOR THE FRIENDS OF THE NEWPORT SHIP

2 11

CHAIRMAN’SMESSAGE

Well it is now two years since themomentous campaign that resulted inSaving Our Ship, and the recovery of

the vessel. It seems to have been a tumultuousperiod for campaigners and the Friends – withgreat elation tempered with somedisappointments (Stern RIP). However, yoursupport for the Friends has ensured wecontinued as an organisation, and will soon havefull charitable status. We are quoted as a primeexample of a campaigning group with bothpopular and academic support, and we will needyour support as we consolidate our efforts andorganisation as a charity. The Ship is now insafe storage at Maesglas, as recording starts anddecisions are taken on conservation and ultimatepreservation/display. As you will gather fromthis newsletter the Friends have an importantrole to play in supporting the conservationefforts, and in promoting the Newport Ship.Some of you may have visited us at our splendidEisteddfod exhibition and we hope to attendmany more such events in the future to publiciseour Ship. We are also maintaining ourinternational reputation and building links withother institutions and organisations – next yearwe plan to give papers at internationalconferences. Locally we have a thrivingprogramme of trips, events and lectures, and arebuilding up our social network.Our public support of the Ship remains vital toensure that this proud symbol of Newport,which seized the public’s imagination in 2002,continues on the road to full recording,conservation, reconstruction and display. I’dlike to thank Charles and Alan who’ve editedthis edition of the Newsletter.

Post August 23rd 2002 the SOS Campaignand its successors the Friends might havebeen said to enjoy an abrasive relationship

with the City Council. Whilst a level ofindependence might be good for a watchdog,conflict with the establishment could be counter-productive now we are in a period ofconsultation. We are now happy to enjoy muchgreater links with the City Council, particularlythe museum & curatorial staff, and have beenholding committee meetings at the ConservationCentre. Ultimately we may have a base forsupporting the Ship at the Conservation Centre -watch this space. As the Conservation Centreand our activities develop we will be seekingvolunteers for exhibitions and stewarding, soplease contact the membership secretary if youwish to help out. ~ Simon Rutherford

© Friends of the Newport ship 2004

Published byFriends of the Newport Ship S.O.S.

C.O FWD Law associates. Clifton Chambers, 12 Clifton Road, St. Woolos, Newport, NP20 4EW.

To contact usE-maileditor@thenewportship.com

Designed & Printed by: A Print & Design Ltd,

Unit 23 Enterprise Business Park, Newport, South Wales, NP20 2AQ. (01633) 264 815 roger@a-print.com

To keep up to date with all the latest developments and fora clearer view our website is

www.thenewportship.com

The Friends of the NewportShip have received agrant of £5,000 for

a portable display standand associatedi n t e r p r e t a t i v ematerials from thelottery fundedg r a n t sp r o g r a m m e“Awards for AllWales”. The PortableDisplay tells thestory to date ofthe NewportMedieval Shipand itssignificance forWelsh culture andmaritime history.The bilingualexhibition will make itsdebut at the 2004 NewportEisteddfod. It will then be shownat the Newport Ship ConservationCentre and other venues acrossWales. The Friends have developed

the stand with the support of localNewport Design consultancy

Communimedia.This is the first grant the

Friends havereceived. The

Friends of theNewport ShipC h a i r m a nS.C.Rutherfordis delighted withthe award,saying, “Thenew exhibitionwill reinforcethe significanceof the Newport

Ship – not only isit of immense

h i s t o r i c a lsignificance, but it

still occupies a place inthe hearts of Newport

people. The Friends of theNewport Ship are very grateful to

Awards for All Wales for their help –the grant application was simple,with a speedy turnaround.”

ANOTHER MEDIEVALSHIP FROM NEWPORT

by Bob Trett - Curator ofNewport Museum (retired)

In the CustomsAccounts forBristol is the

f o l l o w i n greference:“17 February1480. Thearrival of theChristopher ofNewport. TheMaster isM o r r i sHagharn. Theship was carryinga cargo fromIreland of “herring,pollack, hake, saltfish, scalpin, hides,mantles, harburden andshorlings”. Scalpin refers to whiting,haburden (harberdine) is salted cod,

and shorlings are the skins ofshorn sheep or the wool

taken from such skins.The shippers were

Richard ap Meric,John Parkyns,Walter Lincoln,William Kemes,John ap Prineand JohnDevelyn.Whilst this shipcan not be theNewport Ship itis rare to findnames of any

medieval shipsfrom Newport. It

is also interestingto note that the

excavations by theGlamorgan Gwent

Archeological Trustproduced evidence of fish scales

on the Newport Ship.

MERCHANTS’ MARKS 2004(or the more things change the more they stay the same)

by Emma Lewis – operations manager, Associated British Ports, Newport

We have all noticed that brand-nameshave extended into the transportindustries – where the old delivery vans

used to advertise the shop or business theydelivered for, hauliers now advertise themselves –with ‘Eddie Stobart’ lorries attracting ‘spotters’just as trains do (‘EWS’,’ Virgin’ and the like).Those of you close to shipping routes may havenoticed ‘UCC’ ships (united Car Carriers), ‘P&0’Ferries and ‘Jumbo’ ships (specialist heavy liftvessels) with these names painted prominently ontheir sides. It is almost odd now to findcommercial transport without an owner oroperator’s insignia on show. While these are all highly visible, they are not theequivalent of the traditional merchants’ marks. Tofind these, we must look a little further down thetransportation chain – to the sides and tops ofboxes of fish in the fish markets, of banana boxesin the supermarkets and of bakers’ trays deliveredall over the country every morning. All these arere-useable (although the banana boxes don’t returnto Jamaica or the Windward Isles), and all of themare purpose designed and made – just as themedieval equivalents were – and none of themhave quite as much style or durability orcraftsmanship involved as the modern, mostlyplastic equivalent. That must be progress…The modern equivalent of the medieval barrel, forthe purposes of transportation rather than storage,must be the international shipping container –which come in standard 20 foot and 40 footlengths, by about 8 foot by about 8 foot. Thestandard unit have doors at one or both ends, butthere are ‘flat’, refrigerated and ventilatedversions and so on, accommodating transportationof everything from cars to coal, computers tocarrot juice and campaign posters to chemicalweapons. They are standardised across the worldto facilitate cheap, quick discharge and loading oflorries, ships and trains, and are taking over theworld. Many people in poorer countries live inthem… They usually show the marks of thecontainer owners, not the merchants, and here liesthe major change from medieval trade – the sheervolume of world trade, and the perishability ofsome of it demands massive capacity and fearfulefficiency, and competition is fierce. There couldnever be enough coopers, and the goods could notbe packed, handled or unpacked quickly enoughfor barrels to work today.Barrels in the modern world – certainly in thewestern world – are mostly plastic, or used forbeer or cider… the rest are relegated to gardens,pub car parks and museums, filled with water orcrisp packets or planted with daffodils. This is asad state of affairs, but our demand for cheapgoods from all over the world has driven thechanges – cup of coffee, anyone?

A MERCHANT ONTHE NEWPORT SHIP

by Bob Trett - Curator ofNewport Museum (retired)

One of the mostinteresting discoveriesmade when sorting out

the ‘odd’ pieces found inside theNewport ship was a short lengthof plank with a strange mark onit. I was shown the piece byKate Hunter and it wasimmediately apparent that thiswas a merchant’s mark.Merchants’ marks were verycommon between about 1400and 1700. In the Middle Agesthere was a great risk ofshipwreck or piracy, andindividual traders were careful toput only a small consignment ofgoods in any one ship. Bycarrying their goods in severalships they reduced the chance oflosing an entire stock. Therefore it was important thatthey could easily identify theirown goods from the goods ofother merchants, and they didthis by having their own distinctpersonal marks, like a presentday logos. Merchants’ markshave been found on other earlyships. There is one on a barrellid from the Bremen Cog andothers have been found on

various artifacts on the Mary Rose. Merchant marks had to be fairly simple to apply and were often simpledesigns, based on runes. The Newport Ship mark has an upright stem on topof a double “W”, one of which is inverted. At the stop of the stem is aquartered circle. It is similar to some known from Bristol and elsewhere, butat present the name of the merchant has not been identified.It is not known what the plank from the Newport Ship was part of, possiblya box, although the most common containers were barrels.It is just possible that one day we may find the name of a merchant thatactually used the Newport Ship.

10 3

Newport was among the largesttowns in medieval Wales. It waswalled and entered and departed

through three large gates. Eastgate stoodnext to the castle and allowed traffic intothe High Street from the bridge over theUsk. Westgate was situated at the otherend of the High street and Northgate to thenorth of the castle. Near the latter stood thetown’s grain and cloth fulling mills. StWoolos church stood outside the walls tothe south-west, and the Augustinian Friary,possibly unique in Wales, stood near thequay a short distance from the bridge. TheMarket House stood in the High Street.The ground floor would have containedmany rows of market stalls - a medievalshopping mall. An upper story probablyaccommodated the guild-hall and towngovernment. The High Street would haveexhibited the colourful workshops andshop fronts of skilled craftsmen andwomen. Possibly up to twenty taverns andinns would have been made available forlarge numbers of visitors who came to themarket, to the lordship courts held in thecastle, and to the port. The port’s harbourwould have bustled with porters, brokers,agents, sailors, merchants, and portofficials collecting customs dutiesand tolls, and granting licenses toexporters. Ships would have eitherbeen unloaded directly into thecastle through a water gate at hightide, or by cranes onto the quay andinto smaller coastal craft, much of itstored in nearby warehouses andwine yards.

MEDIEVAL MARITIME TRADE

To buy a medieval ship coston average £1 10s per ton ofship. This initial outlay

could be returned within a year,

although risk of wreckin storms, and piracywere high. Ships alsoincurred many taxes,and a crew of forty wasneeded for a 200 tonship. Still, profits onmerchandise werebetween 10 and 20 percent. Wealthy Bristolmerchant families suchas Canynges and

Straunge owned ten ships and more, butshareholding by those of more modestmeans was typical. The trade of the BristolChannel and Severn Estuary was mostlycentred on the Bristol metropolis, thesecond largest English town. It drewWelsh products such as high quality wool,tanned leather, hides and cloth from theWelsh ports, and wool, corn and beansfrom the inland ports of Gloucestershireand the west midlands of England. It thenexported them to Iberia, France and theLow Countries. In return, Spain andPortugal traded luxuries such as salt, wine,olive oil, fruit and dried fruits such asraisins and spices from the east, clothdyeing products, and iron. France tradedlargely wine and dyeing products, andFlanders and Holland, high qualitymercery and haberdashery. Grain, furs andtimber products could be derived from theBaltic. The independence of the Welshports from royal customs made themattractive to continental merchants, andports such as Newport re-shippedcontinental merchandise in small trowsinland, along the Welsh coast, to Ireland,

Bristol, west-country ports, and up theSevern.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The ship was laid up at Newport inthe late 1460s. This was aparticularly tempestuous time in the

port’s history. The English Crown’s loss ofthe wine-growing region of Gascony insouth-western France to the French in theearly 1450s marked the end of the‘Hundred Years War’. Following this lossof lucrative territory the Englisharistocracy turned in on itself and almostimmediately began the civil war known asthe Wars of the Roses. The battles betweenmajor aristocratic houses lasted until theTudors took the Crown in 1485. It was in1469, during this time of lawlessness,assassination and piracy by the governingclass, that the Earl of Warwick, one of themost powerful English lords, violentlygained possession of Newport lordshipfrom its previous lord, Sir WilliamHerbert. Warwick possessed a fleet of tenships with which he plundered others ofdiverse nationalities. This helped him tofinance his political ambitions. In Newporthe gained not only more territorial income,but also a strategically situated port andharbour capable of shipbuilding andaccommodating the largest ships.However, Warwick would have requiredcooperation from the Newport’smerchants, and they would have beenwary of taking sides in such an unstablepolitical climate. He was killed in battlewithin two years.

THE MEDIEVAL SETTLEMENTOF NEWPORT

By Dr. Spencer Dimmock

Keeping the membership of “TheFriends” together and committedenough to renew their

subscriptions every year for the estimatedten years that it will take before theNewport ship goes on display will meanthat we will need to organise manydifferent and varied events. With this inmind the inevitable committee has beenformed and has been meeting in smokefilled rooms of various public houses inand around the Newport area. Any eventthat involves archaeology, maritimehistory and real ale (preferably all three)has been considered. This is a briefsummary of what we have achieved. At the beginning of the year we organisedsocial evenings at the St Julians Pub withKate Hunter and Bob Trett updating us onwhat has been happening to the ship.Another evening was spent viewing oldHTV news items of various shipexcavations that had taken place in andaround the Severn Estuary over the lasttwenty years, all of which had thecommon theme of having been excavated,conserved but had not yet managed to bedisplayed. Lets not let this happen to ourship!We mistakenly thought that by the end ofMarch that summer was just around thecorner and so Nigel Nayling waspersuaded to guide an intrepid band ofFriends out onto the foreshore at Magor.Accompanied by gale force winds,horizontal rain and the occasional rainbowNigel attempted to lecture the group on the

changing nature and man`s involvementwith this wild and beautiful area. The

group examined the area where the MajorPill wreck was discovered, investigatedtraces of medieval fishing weirs, stumbledover masses of Roman pottery whilst atthe same time being kept amused byCharlie desperately trying not to lose hisboots in the thick gloopy mud. Needless tosay a tired, cold, muddy but educationallyfulfiled band of Friends retreated to the“Wheatsheaf” for appropriate medicationand to wait for better weather.April saw several of us heading forPortsmouth and the “Mary Rose” on oneof Alan Smith`s coaches. Charles Barkerof the “Mary Rose Trust” had offered toshow us around the ship and to give us aglimpse of what goes on behind thescenes. I have seen the “Mary Rose” a fewtimes and have found her really awe

inspiring and so it was a real privilege tobe shown around the conservation centrewith its rooms packed with objects such aspulley blocks, navigational instrumentsand longbows that had been found on thewreck, conserved but had not yet gone ondisplay.Although many of the party weredetermined to view more of Portsmouth’snautical attractions in the remaining timeonly a few had the willpower and moralfibre to pass some of the fine docksidetaverns (well I did have just one). The fewwho did avoid being “Shanghaied” by theunscrupulous landlords of Portsmouthmanaged to either view the “Warrior”, the“Submarine Museum” or took a boat ridearound the harbour leaving Charlie to tryhis luck selling prints and mugs ofNewport ship to the crowds of bemusedpeople queuing up to see the “Mary Rose”.

Hands on sailing experience is I believe isimportant for our understanding of theNewport Ship and what better way toachieve this than being able to sail one ofThomas Stach`s beautifully presented“Neptune” class, classic wooden yachtsbased on Cardiff Bay. Our first outing wasin very strong winds sailing under the jibalone (that’s the one at the front) giving usa very exhilarating experience and anopportunity to view the Barrage at veryclose quarters - some viewed it closer thanothers but that is another story! Such wasthe demand for this event that it werepeated it at the end of May and this timewe were blessed with perfect sailingconditions allowing us to appreciate thequalities of these lovely vessels to the full.An event that has become popular with themembership are the trips up the river Usk.It seems incredible that there are noopportunities for the good folk of Newportto view their fair city (and their new artscentre) from the deck of a boat. To satisfythis need we chartered an angling boat inJune and July and setting off fromNewport Docks we have ventured underthe Transporter Bridge, past the site wherethe ship was found and up the river Usk toa little way above Caerleon Bridge. BobTrett battled with the noise of the boat’sengine and pointed out various historicalfeatures on the way. On our last trip wewere rewarded with a magnificent sight often herons perched in a clump of treeswaiting for their dinner and no doubtwatching with some amusement as ourboat, buoyed up by a large tide, scraped itsway under the bridges on its wayupstream. It was deemed impossible toreturn under the Newport to Pontypoolrailway bridge until the tide had dropped alittle forcing us, against our will, to makean unscheduled stop at the Saint Julianspub and a unexpected rendezvous withCharlie who had mercifully left his printsand mugs of the Newport ship behind. I apologise to those who have expressed

an interest in these trips but have not

PPAASSTT AADDVVEENNTTUURREESSAANNDD FFUUTTUURREE EEVVEENNTTSS

by Jerry Cross News Cameraman HTVJerry has literally a depth of experience having scuba dived on the Studland Wreck (SpanishMerchantman which sank circa 1520).

The bow and arrow along with thearcher was an important part ofmedieval life at the time the

Newport ship was constructed and alsoduring her lifetime. It was not long afterthe battle of Agincourt and very close tothe battle of Towton during the Wars of theRoses in 1461. The battle of Towton sawan archery duel as the opening strike,making use of the longbow’s rate ofshooting and also the penetrating effects ofthe various arrow heads. The use of thebow was to immobilise the enemy, createconfusion and disarray. This gave an upperhand in the close quarter combat thatwould follow.These tactics were not confined to landbattles and a number of sea battles of thetime and earlier saw the use of the bow toimmobilise the enemy, to pin down theenemy crew and allow the attacking shipto get in close to carry out the hand to hand

fighting. As part of the ongoing development ofarms and armour throughout this period arange of arrow heads were developed fordifferent purposes. The range of arrow

heads covered armour penetration,hunting, and in the case of sea battles thedevelopment of arrow heads to cut throughrope and sail.All males were expected to be able to usea bow and arrow and it may have been thatthe crew of the ship were all able to use thebow, or that the ship held a small group ofarchers / men at arms. The discovery of anarcher’s wrist-guard with an inscription‘armilla’ along with punched decorationsof hearts and roses creates a clearconnection with archers.The medieval re-enactment groupBowmen of the Rose, re-create the life andskills of the medieval archer, soldier andliving conditions. The Friends of theNewport Ship are arranging for ademonstration to be provided for it’smembers later in the year.

managed to secure a place. Spaces onmany boat trips are usually confined toonly 12 because of Department of Traderegulations, however we will run thesetrips again. The forthcoming events arepublished below but after that who knowswhat we can do, trips to Steepholm, theNational Maritime Museum, the VikingShip Museum in Roskilde and courses innautical archaeology run by the NauticalArchaeology Society are just some of thesuggestions that have been put forward.Please tell us what you would like to seehappen.

Saturday 25th September - Trip to Flatholm leaving Barry at 13:45 and returning at 18:00Cost: £13.00 per adult and £6.50 for children. Please send a Cheque payable to The Friends of the Newport Ship to:- Alan Smith, 21Beaufort Road, Newport, NP19 7NDSaturday16th. October - Trip on the “Waverley” around the Holm islands and the Somerset coast. Meet on Penarth Pier at 11:45. Cost £15.95. Pay On board.

4 9

ARCHERS AND THENEWPORT SHIP by Mike Jones

be that of an English merchantman sunk at the mouth of the riverin 1435 (L’Hour & Veyrat 1994). It was the French authors’ hopeto establish a dendrochronological series for the southern coastsof the Bay of Biscay though this is not yet realised. There aresimilarities to be seen in the structure of both vessels. Until 1451the Duchy of Aquitaine had been within the King of England’srealm since 1204 with Bayonne a centre of shipbuilding, (Rose2000). The writer believes it possible that the Newport Ship wasbuilt in that area early in the fifteenth century.

ConclusionDespite research into contemporary documents nothing hasemerged which could identify the Newport Ship in any way. Herpossible appearance has caused much discussion withoutconclusion. Because she is a big ship for her period it is likely thatshe had a poop and possibly a fore-castle. Only one mast-stepsurvives and from evidence such as the Tenby Seal from thefourteenth and fifteenth centuries, (Williams 1982.26 fig.55), asingle masted rig would suffice, except that that period is whenmultiple mast rigs were being developed. Is it possible that theNewport Ship had three masts and would have been recognised asa carrack by contemporary seamen? The next ten years ofresearch into this important late-medieval ship should producemuch fascinating material from the century before the building ofthe Mary Rose.

REFERENCES

L’Hour, M. & Veyrat, E., 1994, The French Medieval ClinkerWreck from Aber Wrac’h. Crossroads in Ancient Shipbuilding.Oxbow Monograph 40: 165-180. Oxford.McGrail, S. & Roberts, O., 1999, A Romano-British boat from theshores of the Severn Estuary. Mariner’s Mirror 85:2: 133-146.Nayling, N., 1998,The Magor Pill Medieval Wreck. CBAResearch Report 115, York.Nayling, N. & McGrail, S., 2004, The Barland’s Farm Romano-Celtic Boat. CBA Research Report 138, YorkRose, S., 2000, Bayonne and the King’s Ships, 1204-1420.Mariner’s Mirror 86:2:140-147.Williams, D.H., 1982, Welsh History Through Seals. AmgueddfaGenedlaethol Cymru, National Museum of Wales. Caerdydd/Cardiff.Copyright of all belongs to the author.

EISTEDDFOD LECTUREDon’t forget, Owain Roberts will be delivering the CambrianArcheological Association lecture in the Science pavilion at12 noon on Wednesday the fourth of August in the mediumof Welsh. The title of the lecture is ‘The Early Ships of theSevern Estuary

MEMORIES OF THE VIGILby Jeff Brooks

Ahot Saturday afternoon; ourfamily go to the riverside to seewhat the fuss is about. The fuss is

considerable. A makeshift shelter issurrounded by small band of folk; wavingplacards at passing vehicles, tying protestnotices and bunting to railings andcollecting signatures from eagerlysupportive passers-by. From this sceneemerges an avuncular figure who turns outto be Simon Rutherford; eager to recruityet more support to ensure that thestructure emerging from the mud isproperly recovered and studied. It seemschaotic, but cheerful and sincere. Peoplewave, others sound their horns and Iimmediately volunteer to help and findmyself placed on the 24-hour vigil rota forthe small hours of the following morning.It will be the first of several mornings.Darkness; a cool and sometimes chillingbreeze off the river. The road, the busstation, the car parks all deserted andquiet. The orange glow of sodium lightsilluminate the view. Central Newport at2.15 a.m.; a sight I have not seen before. Inthe little shelter sits a volunteer who hasbeen joined by a handful of youngsters.Some also support us, others come in forthe company having nowhere else to go. Ijoin them. A few vehicles pass, a big truckflashes its lights and those within givewaves of support. People in occasionalcars (including police cars) wave their

support. The police reappear and return yetagain at frequent intervals. Some dayslater we find out that they are “keeping aneye” on the security of our vigil. This isthe first night of several vigils withnumbers varying from a dozen to just two.It’s not getting any warmer. The big doorsof the building site open a fraction. Atubby figure appears. “Want to have a look?” he asks.“At the ship?” we ask.“Yeah, come on.”

We inch across the uneven site and ourguide shines the light of his large torchinto the huge excavation. The floor ismade up of the partly exposed and muddykeel, ribs and hull planking of a very largeship. Pieces of timber lie around in thebottom. It looks sad and magnificent. Myvery first view of The Newport Ship at3.37 a.m. and on a date I neglected to notedown. Typical.In these small ways the campaign to savethe Ship began

were nearly vertical and fitted flush against the latter. Both ends of the ship were cut off by the coffer-dam. Intractableconsiderations of safety prevented recovery of the stern. From therun of the planking within the dam it is probable that there wouldhave been a nearly vertical stern post. It should be possible toreconstruct the shape of the stern quite accurately when all theship elements have been drawn. Of interest would have been thestern-post-to-keel structure and perhaps even some of the rudderfittings. The fore end was eventually recovered but no higher thanthe port side which suggests it was cut off at the same time. Herethe crush damage was extensive but with careful measurementand interpretation it should be possible to link this area to that ofthe long section of stem from within the coffer dam.

Associated artifacts and wet storageKate Hunter, Conservator at the Newport Museum, was on sitemuch of the time to receive and place in appropriate safeconditions associated finds and environmental samples gatheredas the uncovering of the ship proceeded. The finds includedleather shoes and other leather objects, textiles including sail clothand woollen clothing, rope and blocks, a mast parrel, cork,Portuguese pottery and coins, stone cannon balls, barrel staves,two combs, a gaming piece and an inscribed brass strapping, theLatin inscription being identified by Dr. Mark Rednap as aquotation from Luke 4:verse 30. (Kate Hunter pers.com.) Manyhundreds of very important samples, taken from all the nooks andcrannies which exist as dirt traps in clinker-planked ships, awaitexamination. Beneath the ship was found the partial, skeletalremains of a man which are in no way to be associated with thehistory of the ship. Kate Hunter was responsible throughout the excavation period forestablishing safe wet storage for all wood in tanks set up inenormous sheds provisionally and graciously made available bythe steel company Corus. This aspect of her commitment to theNewport Ship continues and recently the entire wet timbercollection was re-established in a new, vast shed under herguidance. The opportunity was taken to rationalise the collectioninto groups of similar ship parts, a process which had beenimpossible during the pressure of dismantling the ship andremoving piecemeal to the first location. Charles Barker of theMary Rose Archaeology Unit has been charged with organisingthe long haul of recording, conservation and re-building of the

remains for public display.

What does the Newport Ship represent?This is a large ship with echoes of Scandinavian techniques in

her structure. However, the mass of timber built into the hullsuggests a developing awareness of the need for greatly increasedstrength in a capacious hull used on the European Atlanticseaboard, from north Africa to Iceland, prior to the fifteenthcentury. Indeed the closeness of the frame spacing, the largesections used for the framing and the tightly fitted strong ceilingwould not be out of place in nineteenth century shipbuilding. Theweaknesses persisting are:- (a) in the keel-stem scarph, havingsome similarities to that in the Magor Pill boat, (Nayling1998.fig.33) and (b) the small-sectioned keel combined withbuilt-down garboards as the main source of centre-line stiffness inthe absence of a kelson, supplemented by the edge-joined strakesof what is effectively, a monocoque hull.Nigel Nayling, having had experience recovering the Magor Pill,(Nayling 1998) and the Barland’s Farm boats, (McGrail &Roberts 1999, Nayling & McGrail 2004), guided the dismantlingof the Newport Ship throughout her recovery. As adendrochronologist he attempted to match samples from the shipwith the dendro series available in northern Europe but foundnone. Sampling the shores found under the hull and the unrelatedpiece of timber from within resulted in a date terminus ante quemof about 1467, (N. Nayling pers.com.) for her being beached. Thisrelated to the earlier Portuguese coins’ dates and the Iberianpottery. A life of about thirty years would not be unreasonable fora lucky trading vessel. However, the possibility of the ship havingbeen built anywhere in the Bristol Channel or the British Isles isremote. During the final stages of dismantling the first piece of keel waslifted. Because of its seemingly unmarked and unworn conditionthe writer suggested at the time that the ship had been re-keeledbut this possibility can only be addressed when recording takesplace. Of greater interest is that it is of beech whereas theremainder of the ship is of unidentified oak. Similar detailsplagued the identification of the Aber Wrac’h wreck, thought to

8 5

For the past ten years I have been involved with convoys taking aid firstly to the former Yugoslavia and latterly to orphanagesin Belarus. I often feel like a medieval merchant heading off into the blue with a seven-ton truck of assorted goods. On mylast trip (my fifteenth) I decided to play truant on the way home and made a detour to Bremerhaven (about forty miles north

of Bremen) to see the Deutches Shiffahrtsmuseum. The prize exhibit thereis the Bremerhaven Cog retrieved from the River Weser in the 1960’s.Cogs were the fore runners to our Newport ship (which was most probablya carrack). They were extensively used by the Hanse League. Hanse isGerman for “the company” and what a company it was with at one timeover 200 town and city-states being members. The Hanse had offices in allmajor trading cities throughout Europe – including Bristol.The cog is displayed in a hall against a glass wall and you can walk aroundher on three different galleries. She is suspended by cables from the roofof the hall, which is less obtrusive to the viewer than support from the floorwould be. With her long prow touching the ceiling she reminded me of abrontosaurus skeleton in a natural history museum! Bemerhaven was the sort of museum you would need a day or two to visitproperly but sadly I only had a few hours to see the cog. It was good to seea ship from the same era as ours and thank of trading links with that part of the world that go back centuries, and I hope the futuredisplay facilities for the Newport Ship will do our ship ‘justice’ as the Germans have done theirs.

AA VVIISSIITT TTOO TTHHEE BBRREEMMEENN CCOOGGby Charles Ferris

We are all beginning tounderstand the enormity of theproject before us. In the early

days of our campaign to save thiswonderful ship, all of us involved in theroadside vigil blithely spoke of the yearsthat would pass before the ship would beready to be displayed, and of our ferventhope that she would become thecentrepiece of a ship museum, which webelieved would give the new city ofNewport a sense of pride in its long andimportant heritage. Now we are two yearsinto the process of trying to turn thosedreams into a reality, it has becomeobvious that we face a huge challengekeeping up the momentum of thecampaign. We must maintain publicawareness of the long term importance ofthe vessel.

Many years of careful recording, planningand conservation lie ahead. Excitingfindings will come to light during thattime, and knowledge of world shippinghistory will increase as a result, but wemust be mindful that, unless we keep upthe pressure, interest will wane. Assupporters of the ship we can all do ourpart to spread the word. There is one thingthat we can do now, however, and it fallswithin the scope of all of the members ofthe Friends. We have been invited to puttogether an archive which will documentour campaign to save the ship. We arehoping to gather together, whilst memoriesare still fresh and reliable, any and allmaterial that you, the members, have in

your possession. We would like you togather every memory, photograph, pressclipping or anecdote you may have, and tosend whatever you can to the Friendsorganisation at:

c/o 7 Fields Park Avenue, Newport, NP20 5BG.

for inclusion in the archive. Our campaignhas won the admiration of many respectedhistorians and archaeologists worldwide.Nothing of its kind has happened before inthe world of marine archaeology. In and ofitself the campaign is an important part ofthe history of our ship, and should berecorded for posterity. Every memory,observation and experience you could

share is valuable. Every photograph youcontribute could prove to be a vital aid inthe final reconstruction of the ship. Pleasedon’t dismiss your potential contributionsas unimportant. However small a detailyou remember, you may jog the memoriesof others. Your photograph of a muddyhole in the ground might show somethingthat has been missed or overlooked. Pleasetake some time to contribute to thisendeavour. You are, after all, a crucial partof this piece of history. We will lookforward to seeing and reading all you cansend, and in turn, I’m sure that you will all,in time to come, be proud to have been apart of this campaign.

CREATING AN ARCHIVE by Sherrie Parker

The discovery of a late medieval ship on a buildingsite at Casnewydd / Newport in south Wales in2002 raised public awareness of the fragility of

such discoveries where they interrupt municipal buildingprogrammes. Within a tight schedule the ship remainswere recovered and now await further work. The originsof the ship are unknown since the dendrochronology is asyet unmatched though the structure indicatesScandinavian and possibly Basque influences. artifactsindicate trading with Iberia during the first half of thefifteenth century. Much of the ship had been salvaged atthe end of her useful life about 1467.

Casnewydd/Newport is sited on the tidal Afon Wisg/River Usk insouth Wales. The river drains into theSevern Estuary which itself broadensout to become the Bristol Channel. InJune 2002 archaeologist Kate Howellof the Gwent & GlamorganArcheological Trust, attending the siteof a new construction project besidethe river, stopped the industrialexcavation when ancient woodworkwas revealed. The Trust confirmed thepresence of ship’s timbers and wasgiven a week in which to record whatthey could. Despite the revelation of alarge ship’s remains of apparenthistoric value, the Newport CityCouncil was prepared to proceed withconcreting over the site, designated forits new theatre and arts centre,unaware of the irony. Many well known societies andinternational names from the sphere ofnautical and land archaeology reactedto this through powerfulcorrespondence with the City Council,the Welsh Assembly, Members ofParliament and the Press. At the behestof CADW the writer in June inspectedwhat had been revealed during thefirst week and suggested fifteenth orsixteenth century as a likely periodand emphasised the importance of thediscovery. This enabled official civilservice advice to be given to theAssembly. In the meantime publicsupport had exploded in the face of theCouncil with meetings, deputations,press conferences and a newly formedSave Our Ship society co-ordinatingthe outcry against destruction of theship. Bowing to such interest the site

contractors established a viewing area which had constant use.Queues four-deep during one weekend led to an estimate of 30,000viewers. An armada of yachts sailed up on the tide to add to theprotest. The importance of this emotional ground swell to thesuccessful recovery of the ship should not be underestimated. In aseries of gradually extended periods granted to the Trust properexcavation and recording could be planned. Never-the-less, the still-limited time allowed required that the dig proceed with all the driveof a rescue operation. Frequent visits on site enabled the writer togauge the tremendous pressure under which Kate Howell and herteam of archaeologists worked and the enthusiastic commitmentthey gave to their careful work in very wet and dirty conditions. Onthe final November day allowed them, they worked into the dark torecover the last piece of the keel. In Newport they were the heroesof the hour!

The discovery lay within a T-shaped area delineated by a coffer dam

which had been mechanicallyexcavated to about 5m belowground level. The area was thenliberally pierced with concretepiles. It was at this point thattimber appeared together withthe remains of a stone quaywhich had been noted on anearly eighteenth century map oflands belonging to a long-gonemonastery. The fortuitousdiagonal disposition of theship’s remains within thecoffer-dam ensured therecovery of most of them.Figure 1 is a sketch to anapproximate scale showing thegeneral arrangement of the site.Being heeled over to starboardhad ensured that parts of thatside remained intact to theheight of the sheer strake. Theport side had been cut level tojust above the ends of the floorswhich coincided with the levelof the stone quay andpresumably that of the ancientland level beside the river. The Newport ship was uncovered to reveal a stripped-out hull evento the extent of a door-way being cut in the starboard side to makedismantling easier. A few holes had been hacked in the after bottomplanking between the floors, perhaps to prevent the hull’s trying tofloat on a rising tide.Two sections of beam shelving were recorded on the starboard side.Half of what may be a massive built-up deck beam, notched to lockover the side planking where it protruded, was recovered from thesite together with what could be a hanging knee and the remains ofa windlass. These are massive pieces of timber. It would seem thatany part of the ship that could be re-cycled into the repair or buildingof other ships or even into local buildings had been removed.Probably the hull was left alone because of its having filled with thesilt arriving with each tide. Evidence for its having reached the endof a long working life may be indicated by:- the split mast-step;repairs to split planking using battens and lead tingles; long,tapering, square-sectioned pegs replacing rivetted nails at somescarphs, driven in from both inboard and outboard; and attempts torepair a rider. Much of this is on-site deduction which may beconfirmed later.

The ship was dried as far as possible up a creek off the river andto begin with would have leant with her port side against the bank.There are what probably were once shores or even temporary legsunder her starboard side, which suggests that these have moved at astate of high water and been trapped under the starboard bilge as thehull fell out from the bank. This scenario would have saved thestarboard side from being levelled off. These shores or legs and otherunrelated timbers found within the hull have become important forobtaining a date for the ship. Over the centuries the creek filled andthe bank built up another 5m. A river wall consolidated it in thenineteenth century.

Provisional assessment of the structureThe remains are of a very large, clinker-planked ship, about 29mlong and about 8m beam, her planking edge-fastened by iron nails,their tips nipped off and rivetted down over square roves. Trenails

fixed the planking to closely-spaced, heavy framing composed offloors and futtocks. A number of heavy, broad planks were scarphedand fitted as stringers. Between these were fitted the ceiling planksup to the deck beams. Forward and abaft the mast-step were fittedrisers, shaped from forked timbers having large dimensions, rightinto the hull’s ends. No kelson was fitted. Sixty-four incompleteframes, thirty-two starboard strakes and sixteen port strakessurvived.The major eye-catching structure was the central mast-step which,

because of its 10m length was joggled over all of the midships floorsto resist the fore-and-aft strains imposed on it. The writer estimatedthe mast diameter to have been two-thirds of a metre at its base. Asseen in Figure 2 there was a cut-out in the mast-step for the trunk ofthe bilge pump. Beneath this was found a wicker basket-type strum-box of a design closely comparable with that fitted by Newport FireService to the end of their force-pump’s flexible suction pipe whenassisting with drainage on the site. The pump’s leather plunger andits rod were recovered from deep in the silt which filled the ship.As well as being locked in a fore-and-aft direction the mast-step wassecured, adjacent to the mast, against sideways movement by shapedchocks of timber pinned to the floors. These acted as struts againstthe first, massive bilge-stringer each side of the mast-step.This immensely strong arrangement was necessary because about

thirty metres of mast, steadied only by stretching, hempen shrouds,would be trying to lever the mast-step sideways and fore-and-aftagainst the fulcrum of the deck structure at every roll. Such massivestrains over many years may have been the cause of its splitcondition.Between the mast-step chocks were fitted bilge-shutters which lay

flush in the rebate cut into the edge of each chock. These boardswere to close the gaps that would otherwise have let the bilges fillwith detritus from cargoes, so blocking the pump.The concrete piles had pierced the ship in many places but one wentprecisely through the mast mortise without damaging the step butcrushing the structure beneath, including the keel. The last few strakes from the bilge to the keel developed a steepreverse curve in the hull’s sections, to where the garboard strakes6 7

LLONG CASNEWYDD: THE NEWPORT SHIP-A PERSONAL VIEW. BY OWAIN T. P. ROBERTS.

This article was first published in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology and is reproduced here by the kind permission ofOwain Roberts & Dr. Paula Martin, editor of the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, and Blackwell Publishing.